Privilege Escalation
The latest Privilege Escalation coverage — news, analysis, and updates from the WindowsNews.AI desk.
Patch Now: CVE-2025-53140 Kernel Transaction Manager Use-After-Free Enables Local Privilege Escalation on Windows
Microsoft has released a security update for CVE-2025-53140, a use-after-free vulnerability in the Windows Kernel Transaction Manager (KTM) that allows an authorized local attacker to elevate...
CVE-2025-53137: Microsoft’s AFD.sys Patch Stops Local Attackers from Hijacking SYSTEM
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock (AFD.sys), tracked as CVE-2025-53137, hands any local attacker with a toehold on a machine a direct path to SYSTEM...
Actively Exploited Windows AFD.sys Flaw Earns CISA KEV Status Amid Patching Confusion
Microsoft’s February 2025 Patch Tuesday delivered a fix for CVE-2025-21418, a heap-based buffer overflow in the Windows Ancillary Function Driver (afd.sys), but sysadmins are grappling with a...
Microsoft Patches Critical DirectX Kernel Race Condition Exploit (CVE-2025-53135) Threatening Windows Systems
Microsoft has released a security update for a local privilege escalation vulnerability in the Windows DirectX Graphics Kernel, tracked as CVE-2025-53135. The flaw, residing in the dxgkrnl driver,...
CVE-2025-26636: Windows Kernel Info Leak Exploits Processor Optimizations to Steal Secrets
Microsoft's April 2025 Patch Tuesday quietly shipped a fix for CVE-2025-26636, a Windows NT kernel information disclosure that lets local attackers extract sensitive memory simply by triggering code...
Patch Now: Critical Windows PrintWorkflowUserSvc Flaws Allow Attackers to Gain SYSTEM Privileges
Microsoft's December 2024 Patch Tuesday included a fix for CVE-2024-49095, a high-severity elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Windows PrintWorkflowUserSvc service that could give attackers...
New Win32k GRFX Race Condition Lets Attackers Hijack Windows Systems — Patch Now
A race-condition vulnerability in the Windows Win32k GRFX kernel component, assigned CVE-2025-53132, enables local attackers to escalate privileges to SYSTEM and take full control of an unpatched...
Microsoft Patches CVE-2025-50176: DirectX Kernel Type-Confusion Bug Allows SYSTEM Compromise
Microsoft has issued a critical security update for CVE-2025-50176, a type-confusion vulnerability in the DirectX Graphics Kernel (dxgkrnl) that allows an authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary...
Microsoft Patches Windows Installer Flaw Allowing SYSTEM-Level Elevation
Microsoft has fixed a high-impact elevation-of-privilege vulnerability in Windows Installer that could allow a locally authorized attacker to gain SYSTEM-level privileges on unpatched systems....
Urgent Fix: Hyper-V Race Condition CVE-2025-50167 Lets Attackers Seize Host Control
Microsoft has confirmed a dangerous race condition in Windows Hyper-V that gives an attacker with low-level access a path to full host compromise, escalating privileges to the kernel level. Tagged...
Immediate Patch Urged for Windows Cloud Files Driver Flaw (CVE-2025-50170) That Escalates to SYSTEM
Microsoft has released a security advisory for CVE-2025-50170, a local elevation-of-privilege vulnerability in the Windows Cloud Files Mini Filter Driver (cldflt.sys) that could allow an attacker...
137 Fixes and a Win32K Type-Confusion Bug: Microsoft’s Mammoth July Patch Tuesday
Microsoft’s July 2025 security update is a behemoth, shipping patches for 137 vulnerabilities, including a zero-day in SQL Server and a heap of critical remote code execution flaws. But buried in...